The Glitch in Our Story
by Alaska829Snow
Summary: Emma finds a way to prevent the curse from ever happening. But when she realizes what that means for her son, she must team up with Regina to save him. In the process, Regina is forced to choose between the life she could've had and the life she has in Storybrook.
1. Visitations

**Okay, guys here it is: my next story. Lately, I have been obsessed with the idea that Henry wouldn't have been born without the curse. The entire premise of this story is going be about Regina having to chose between the life she could've had and the life she ended up with. Of course, major Swan Queen will ensue in the process :P I mean, what else am I supposed to do with my life during the hiatus?! I hope you enjoy the first chapter! **

* * *

Emma Swan used to be the type of person who loved being alone with her thoughts; quiet days at the Sherriff's station were always her favorite. But lately she dreaded every moment that her mind wasn't completely occupied—because it was then she started to think about the shit show that her life had become.

It was for that very reason her early Monday-morning shift was now akin to torture. _Nothing _was going on in town—so, she sat alone and simply couldn't prevent her mind from wandering to all of the things she _didn't _want to think about. Like, for instance, the pressure of being the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. Or, perhaps, that she slept with Rumpelstiltskin's son and shares her kid with the Evil Queen.

She didn't want to think about any of it. Most especially, The Evil Queen—or Regina Mills, as Emma knew her. Because Emma was pissed at herself—she knew that she was partially to blame for how things had suddenly gotten so much worse. She knew she had screwed up, big time, on more than one occasion.

Fucking Cora ruined everything.

Emma _believed_ Regina. But she showed up on her doorstep, anyway—to yell and scream that she had no right to Henry. Emma was hurt—because _she_ felt betrayed by the woman who promised to be better. But instead of trusting her instincts, Emma drove the queen straight into mother's arms. She didn't even have time to apologize before she was off to New York—not that she had much of a choice. She didn't feel like she had much of a choice in anything, anymore. She felt trapped, stuck—she wished she had a little more room to breathe these days. All Emma wanted was for things to be better for_ all_ of them, including Regina.

Frankly, she couldn't stop obsessing over what would've happened if she offered to help Regina instead of throwing accusations her way. But the reality was that it felt too late-everything had spiraled completely out of control. And she _wasn't_ going to apologize now; not after Regina had come storming into Gold's shop, intent on killing all of them—not after she had threatened Snow's life in front of Henry.

She couldn't remember the last time she had gotten a full night of sleep—her depressed mother and engaged ex-boyfriend weren't helping things in that department.

She pondered how inappropriate it would be for her to rest her head on her desk. After less than a minute of deliberation, she decided she didn't really care if it was inappropriate. Who was going to fire her for it? Her father?

She put her head down and she swiftly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Emma didn't know exactly how much time had passed when she woke up to the sound of a young girl's voice.

"Excuse me," Emma heard, as she lifted her head from the desk, trying to gracefully wipe off drool from the corner of her mouth. "I was wondering if you could help me?"

Emma took in the sight before her. She considered momentarily if she was dreaming or _so_ sleep deprived that she was now hallucinating.

"Regina?" She rubbed her eyes with her hands.

The person standing before her was undoubtedly Regina Mills; but _not_ the Regina Emma knew. This version of Regina was dressed in brown riding pants, a light blue riding jacket and gloves. For some reason, the thing that struck Emma most of all was the turquoise ribbon at the bottom of her long-braid—it seemed so preppy, so innocent, and so child-like. It was the antithesis of Mayor Mills.

"You know my name?" The adolescent asked.

"Of course...of course I know your name." Emma stood up from her desk, swiftly pulled her gun out of her holster and pointed it at the girl. "What kind of fucked up trick is this?"

"I'm sorry?"

"What are you trying to pull on me right now?" Emma walked a few steps closer. "Why the hell do you look like you're twelve? And why are you dressed like that?"

"I'm...I'm eighteen," young Regina whispered, as her voice-cracked. "What is that? That you're pointing at me?"

"Did you like drink some spell? What are you trying to do?"

"I'm just trying to get home, _I swear_. I just want to go home."

"Is this about Henry?"

"Henry?"

"Seriously? You're going to pretend you don't know who Henry is? I'm supposed to fall for this? This is the best you've got to give now? I know that you're pissed, okay? I get it…but is this _really _what we've come to, Regina?"

"Henry is my father's name...that's the only Henry I know, I swear."

Emma noticed that the girl's body was shaking with fear and intimidation. If there was one thing she knew about Regina, it was that she _never_ showed fear.

She started to wonder if this _wasn't _a trick. Maybe, just maybe, some weird magic was involved. Maybe Rumple had done something—or maybe it was someone else in town who wanted this woman to pay for her sins.

Emma decided to play along, if only momentarily, to try to gauge more information.

"What did you mean just then?" Emma asked. "That you want to go home? What happened to you?"

"I don't_ know_ what happened, that's the problem."

"Well, how did you end up in my office?"

"I was at the stables and a girl was stuck on a runaway horse. I went riding after her, to try to save her. I managed to get to her—but my own horse got spooked in the process. I remember falling off—then I woke up in the middle of the woods and just started walking. I don't know _where_ I am and I _have_ to get home before my mother starts to wonder why I've been gone for so long. She doesn't like it when I'm late."

"You're talking about Snow White?" Emma recognized the story. "And Cora?"

"You know my mother?"

"Uh, yes…we've met once or twice."

"Do you know Daniel then?" Young Regina shot her a hopeful look. "If I could just find him, I'm sure he would be more than willing to take me home. He was with me earlier and if you can just help me find him...he can take me home and I _promise_ I won't bother you anymore."

"Regina," Emma said sternly, "we both know that Daniel is dead and so is Cora. I don't know what you're trying to do to me right now...but I'm not in the mood to figure out your bullshit. I'm just too damn tired."

"What...what are you? Daniel's _dead_? My mother is dead?"

Emma watched young Regina fall to the floor, clench her hands into fists and burst into tears. "What happened?" The sobbing girl looked up at her. "What happened to them?"

Emma was startled by the reaction—it certainly didn't seem like the response of someone who already knew the information. Her gut instincts were screaming that this wasn't an act, that this girl was genuinely heartbroken. If it was an act, she thought, Regina deserved every award on the planet.

But if it _was_ real…what the hell did it mean?

"You know what? Just hold on one second, okay?"

Emma had an idea—she walked back to her desk and quickly dialed Regina's home telephone number.

"Hello?" The mayor picked up on the third ring.

"Regina?" Emma responded, failing to hide her astonishment. "You're...you're home?"

"That _is_ generally the implication when someone picks up their house phone, Ms. Swan."

"Right, of course."

"Is there something I can help you with? Or did you call me to inform me that my son is not in fact mine for the umpteenth time?"

"Um, no," Emma fumbled, trying to keep her concentration. It was impossible, as she couldn't take her eyes off the crying girl who sat on the floor—the one with the same voice as the woman on the other end of the phone. "I...uh...listen, someone just walked in...I have to go. I'll call you back later."

She hung up and felt her heartbeat pick up pace; it seemed there were _two _versions of Regina in Storybrook.

She cautiously walked back over to the girl; she offered her a hand. "You should probably get off the floor."

Regina accepted the offer and allowed Emma to help pull her up. "How did they die? How could they both be dead? How could my Daniel be dead? I was_ just_ with him. Did she do this? My mother? Did she use magic?"

"Okay, slow down. Why don't you have a seat?"

"I don't even know who you are and you just told me everyone I care about is dead. _Please _just tell me what happened?"

"Frankly, I'm not sure you want to know the answer to that."

"But I _need_ to know. I love him, don't you understand that? And I love my mother, too."

Emma was suddenly reminded of something Rumple had said: that Regina was dangerous _because _she had a heart, because she was capable of love. There _had_ to be more to the story than what Emma knew—because sweet young girls like this one didn't just turn into Evil Queen's overnight.

Emma had spent the last few months doubting her role as the savior of Storybrook. But as she looked at the heartbroken girl before her she wondered if maybe she was the savior after all. But maybe, she thought, saving this town had nothing to do with breaking the curse. Maybe _this_ was the moment she needed to step up—maybe she could stop Regina from ever becoming evil, maybe she could stop the curse from happening at all.

Because it had been the curse that ruined everything—including Regina Mills. Maybe she could give everyone exactly what they wanted: Regina could save Daniel and be with him. She could save her parents the heartache of endless separation. She could even grow up with them.

"My name is Emma. And I think...I think maybe you _can_ fix this."

"How?"

"Well, you are one of the most magically powerful people….like, ever."

"What are you talking about?" Young Regina's crinkled her nose, seemingly horrified at the suggestion. "I don't have magic."

"Wait, you _don't_?"

"My mother has...or had it, I suppose. Not me—magic is dangerous."

"Well_ I_ have magic, so maybe I can help you."

"Dead is dead, Emma—magic can't change that."

"Do you know anything about portal travel?"

"Just that it exists."

"What about…what about time-travel?"

"I've only heard rumors. I don't know anyone who has actually done it."

"ButI think_ you_ did it."

"Time-travel? Where exactly am I?"

"You're in Storybrook, Maine."

"What is that? I've never heard of such a kingdom."

"It's not a kingdom. It's a town you created to get revenge on the little girl you saved today. And the adult version of you lives only a few minutes from here."

"Revenge? On that harmless child? Why on earth would I do that? I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't hurt anyone."

"Good, you don't_ have_ to hurt anyone. That is, if you'll listen to me."

"I'll do _anything_ to get Daniel back."

"Yeah, trust me, _that_ is something everyone is aware of."

"What?"

"Never mind…I just have a lot of stuff to tell you. Do you think you can handle a crash course on your own life?"

The young girl nodded; Emma took a deep breath and began.

* * *

Regina stormed out of her house and slammed the mansion door behind her.

She could smell trouble from a mile away. And she knew the odd phone call she received from Emma simply had to mean big trouble.

She was utterly panicked that Emma was planning to run-off to New York with Henry again-that the savior had called simply to make sure they could get away without his adoptive mother noticing. Maybe, she thought, Neal would go too. And Rumpelstiltskin. Maybe the whole screwed up family tree was taking a trip across the Storybrook border.

She couldn't even handle the thought of it—and she _wasn't _about to let it happen.

She got in her car and sped down the street.

* * *

"_Please_," young Regina begged Emma, "I don't _want_ that to be my life. I don't want any of that to happen. I just want a life of my own, with Daniel."

"Maybe it doesn't have to be that way. I don't know how you got here but I think you should go back and change it."

"How? How will I go back? I don't even know how I got here. All I did was fall off my horse."

"I have magic, maybe I can send you back?"

"You think you can do that?"

"I don't know," Emma admitted. "But I was recently told that I can just picture things and make them happen. Apparently being the product of true-love is a powerful thing—helps prevent my heart from getting ripped out and stuff."

"Someone tried to rip your heart out?"

"Uh, it's kind of a long story," Emma gave a crooked smile. "Just give me your hands, alright? It's worth a shot."

Young Regina put out her hands, and Emma entangled them with her own. The blonde closed her eyes and pictured it—sending this girl back home and putting everyone out of their misery.

She felt the now familiar feeling of magic surge through her body.

When she opened her eyes, young Regina was gone.

* * *

Emma only had a few minutes to process what she had done before the all-grown-up version of Regina Mills came storming into her office.

"Would you care to explain what that phone call was all about?" The queen asked as she marched up to Emma, invading her personal space. "Why did you need to know I was home? Where is Henry? And where are you taking him?"

Emma didn't respond but merely stood grinning from ear to ear.

"What's wrong with your face?" Regina demanded when the blonde ignored her line of questioning.

"Nothing is wrong with my face." Emma quickly grabbed onto Regina's arm, desperate to get her to listen.

"Don't touch me," Regina snapped as she pulled her arm away. "Are you high?"

"I fixed it."

"Fixed what?"

_"Everything._"

"Ms. Swan, I am quickly losing what little patience I have for you in the first place so if you do not inform me what the hell is going on right now I swear I will..."

"Regina, I'm sick of fighting with you, okay? We had a good thing going on for a week or two; when we actually trusted each other, you know? Henry is clearly miserable about all of this."

"This is _not_ the time to sort out our parenting arrangement," the brunette insisted, as she crossed her arms. "_Tell me_ what is going on—your behavior is even more bizarre than usual."

"I honestly don't know if you'll believe me."

"Well, try me."

"I was just sitting here at my desk and this younger version of you came walking in the door."

"Excuse me?"

"At first I thought it was some weird plan you had—that you were trying to trick me. But then I called you and you were home. And then when I told the 'you' in my office that Daniel was dead, it was clear to me that…"

"Stop right there," Regina interrupted. "I don't know what you're trying to pull but for you to stoop so low as to use Daniel to try to get the upper-hand with me is an entirely new level of..."

"I'm not fucking around with you, Regina. I mean, do I look like I'm kidding you right now?"

Regina carefully examined Emma's eyes, searching for an indication of honesty—all Regina saw was panic and exhaustion. Truth be told, the look on Emma's face reminded her a lot of the moment the blonde had discovered the curse was real.

"No, you don't look like you're kidding," she admitted, "but you look like you haven't slept in a week."

"Eighteen-year-old you _was _here in this office talking about saving my mom from the runaway horse-and she was, _you_ were, clearly afraid of Cora... even then. And you had a blue ribbon in your hair...it was braided."

"What exactly are you suggesting happened here, sheriff?"

"Time-travel?" Emma offered.

Regina had heard that in the rarest of circumstances, time-travel was possible. She wasn't yet willing to believe it had happened in Storybrook. But she wasn't ready to believe Emma was lying, either. There was something all too elaborate about the tale Emma was telling- it seemed to intricate to have been fabricated.

"If this _is_ true, where is the younger me now?"

"I sent you back."

"How?"

"I used magic."

"You've had magic for five minutes and you expect me to believe that you used it for time-travel? That's not even possible. Portal-jumping is one thing, time-travel is unheard of. I was never even powerful enough to come close to pulling that off."

"Rumple told me magic was emotion...he told me just to use emotion and picture what I wanted. Do you know how much emotion I've had lately? I just pictured you going back and when I opened my eyes you were gone."

"You relied on advice from Rumpelstiltskin to send a younger-version of me back through time?"

"Yes."

"You really _are_ a Charming, aren't you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That this level of stupidity and incompetency could only come from the off-spring of idiots."

"I was trying to fucking help you."

"You realize you could kill me, right?" Regina questioned, raising her voice. "Was that your plan? Who the hell knows where you even sent me? How do you know you didn't send me to the ice-age?"

"I...because that's _not_ what I pictured."

"You took _my_ life into your own hands without permission, which I can't say surprises me. If you sent me to the wrong time or place I could just vanish in the middle of this sentence!"

"Well, you're still here so I think we can assume you made it back just fine. My magic isn't as unreliable as you may think."

"Right, as long as you're not using it to solve a supposed murder."

"Alright, fine... I deserve that."

"You know…I used to at least have some sort of respect for you. You were your own person...now you're just a clone of them. And you're completely and utterly useless."

Emma felt herself get flustered, annoyed that Regina didn't seem to understand the brilliance of her plan. "We'll just see how useless I am when you end up with Daniel and get everything you ever wanted because of_ me_."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"None of this shit would've happened if Cora didn't kill your fiancé, right? Well, I told the younger-version of you to go back and to make sure your mom doesn't find out about Daniel. Then none of us will have to endure the pure hell you unleash as a result."

Emma watched the color drain out of Regina's face—the brunette was silent, she furrowed her brows angrily. She motioned forward and shot magic against Emma.

Emma went flying into the wall—she felt her body smash into it, before she violently fell to the floor. When she opened her eyes, Regina was sitting on top of her—pressing her hands against her throat, almost choking her.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" The queen screamed.

"I thought you'd be thanking me. The curse breaks anyway, why are you so attached to it? We'd _all_ be better off if it never happened."

"I don't give a shit about the curse."

"What the hell is your problem then?"

"My problem is that, you're right...'none of this shit would've happened'...including Henry being born."

"Fuck," Emma muttered, as she processed the words. "No, that's _not_ true."

"He's the only thing I fucking have left," Regina screeched as her tears fell directly on Emma's face, "and you may have just erased his entire existence!"

"No," Emma screamed back, slamming her hands into the cold ground beneath her. "No, that's not...that's_ not_ true."

"Really? It's not? Do you think you would've found your way to Rumpelstiltskin's son's bed if it _hadn't _been for the curse? Need I remind you he would have been a hundred years older than you?"

"No," she repeated, as she tried to wrap her mind around the logic. "Stop saying that."

"Where _is_ Henry right now? Where is my son?"

"He's...he's with Neal."

"We have to fix this before it's too late; if it's not _already_ too late."

"Should I call them? Should I tell them what happened?"

"And scare the shit out of everyone when there's nothing they can do to stop it? No. We have to go _now_. Everything has to happen _exactly _like it did or Henry could..."

"We can fix this," Emma said, trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince Regina. "We can just…we can fix it. I won't let anything happen to him."

"You better hope so. Because if not, I promise you that wherever I end up in time or space—I _will_ find a way to make sure you pay for this."

Emma tried to calm her breathing- but her breaths were short and quick. She knew she had to shake the impending panic attack she was about to have.

The weight of Regina's body was still on her; she took the brunette's hands into her own. She closed her eyes once more. And she pictured it: sending them both after young Regina.

She knew exactly what she was protecting. Because she had to save their son.


	2. Mother's Intuition

**Here we go, chapter two :) Let me know what you think! **

* * *

Emma woke up to the distinct feeling that her entire body was throbbing; every joint, muscle and bone felt sore to the touch. Apparently, time-travel was a more grueling physical experience than she could've ever imagined.

"Regina, get up," she tried to nudge the woman who was still sprawled out on top of her. But Regina remained unconscious and immobile.

"Shit," Emma whispered in pain; she felt light-headed and could sense magic pumping through her bloodstream. "Seriously—can you _please_ wake up now?"

The brunette finally stirred and fluttered her eyes open slowly. "Ouch," she moaned, echoing Emma's sentiments of agony.

Emma remained on the ground as Regina rolled off of her and slowly tried to get up— when the queen managed to stand on her feet, she immediately stumbled and almost lost her balance entirely.

"I feel dizzy, too," Emma informed her. "I can't even move."

"You did it?" Regina questioned in shock once she regained her composure and looked around. "We're in fairytale land."

Emma resisted the urge to say _I told you so_—there were much more important things to deal with and she was currently in no position to gloat.

"What should we do?" she asked, as she finally found the strength to stand up herself; she brushed the dirt and grass off of her. "Where do we start?"

"We have to assess the situation," Regina mused. "We have figure out exactly what's happened."

"And where do we go to do that?"

"We should go to my home—to see if I'm there."

"I told you to run _away_ from home, though."

"Just because you told me to not let Daniel get killed, it doesn't mean I got away with it. You shouldn't underestimate my mother's determination to have me marry the king. I'm not convinced eighteen-year-old me could outsmart Cora even with a serious upper-hand."

"Alright," Emma accepted the reasoning. "But are we just going to, like, march in there?"

"Of course we're not. I know my way around well enough for us to sneak in and ease-drop."

"Okay, good. You'll have to lead the way, then."

* * *

Emma couldn't help but to be intrigued by the fact that Regina knew precisely which window to climb through to get into the house unnoticed; she pictured young Regina ducking out in the middle of the night to rendezvous with Daniel.

Once they were inside, Emma tip-toed behind Regina up the stairs and into the hallway. She felt a chill run up her spine when she spotted Cora a few feet away in the foyer.

It was quite like seeing a ghost. This woman was, in Emma's world, dead and gone. But yet there she stood, in the flesh, pacing back and forth.

"Mother," Regina whispered as she took in the sight, the anguish on her face apparent—wounds that hadn't even had time to properly heal were suddenly being ripped open.

"Regina, you_ can't_ talk to her," Emma reminded her. "She'll freak out and there's no way we can logically explain this."

But it was too late. In that moment, Regina didn't care about logic and she didn't care about putting herself in danger. She just wanted to speak with her mother.

Regina ran into the room and launched herself into her Cora's arms. "Mommy, I _missed_ you."

"So much for the plan," Emma huffed as she watched from the door-frame.

Cora stood stoically—refusing to embrace her daughter. "Where have you been?" She asked angrily as she launched Regina up into the air; thick strings of rope wrapped around Regina's body, holding her in place.

"Mother, I can explain."

"Why do you look like that? Why are you dressed like that? You look..."

"Older," Regina offered her. "I know…please put me down so we can talk."

"I will _not_ release you until you tell me where you have been for the past _two days_! Did you really think you could just run off without any sort of consequence? Do you know how you've embarrassed me?"

The rope bound itself tighter around Regina's shoulders and Emma watched in horror. "Stop it," she intervened, making her presence known, "you're hurting her."

"Who is this?"

"A friend," Emma answered, putting her hands on her hips.

"Did_ you_ help her escape?"

"No," Emma shook her head. Cora stared at her, waiting for an explanation. Emma knew she should provide one, but she wasn't good at improvising. "You see, well…the thing is…"

"We're here from the future," Regina blurted out.

Emma couldn't believe her ears—that the strong and impermeable mayor because so vulnerable in the presence of her mother.

"The future?" Cora scoffed. "That's seriously the best excuse you could come up with for your insubordination?"

"Mother, _please…_you have to listen to me._" _

Emma knew that there was no turning back, she was going to have to sell it—she was going to have to make Cora believe they were telling the truth.

"If we're lying than why do you think your daughter looks 15 years older than she was when you last saw her?"

"There are spells that can change appearances. I don't know who you think you are, blondie…but you shouldn't mistake me for a fool."

"Oh yeah, you _would_ know all about spells that change appearances," Emma hissed, refusing to back down or show fear. "Who taught you that, again? Your old friend Rumpelstiltskin?"

"How do _you_ know Rumpelstiltskin?"

"Emma and I both meet him in the future," Regina explained.

"This is all his doing, isn't it? I should've known he would never let my child live in peace, let alone become Queen."

"This has _nothing_ to do with Rumple," Emma told her, "for once."

"Mother, I know you ripped your own heart out to make sure you could become powerful—I know you killed Snow White's mother to make sure I could become Queen—that you set everything up for me to save Snow from her horse. How else would I know all of that if I wasn't telling you the truth?"

Emma watched as Cora's facial expression relaxed from angry to confused—she removed the spell binding Regina and the brunette softly landed back on the floor.

"Listen, Cora…we're on _your_ side here," Emma tried to rationalize, desperate to salvage the situation. "We want Regina to become the Queen, too. And in our future, she _does_ become Queen. She's like the most badass Queen in all the worlds because of what you did. But it can't happen if the Regina of your time is missing right now. So you have to let us know what happened. I promise I'll bring your daughter home to you so everything can go according to your plan. We want the same thing."

"It's true," Regina assured her. "I do become the Queen."

"What happened is that you never came home from the stables after you saved Snow," Cora began. "The stable-boy never came back, either. As if I didn't already know about your infatuation with him. I have people out looking for you two…."

"Has there been any trace of them?" Emma inquired.

"No, none so far."

"And you said this happened two days ago?"

"Yes," Cora confirmed. "The King will only wait so long."

"Is he on his way?"

"He'll be here tomorrow."

"We can fix this," Regina chimed in.

"You _better_…after everything I had to do to get you this life your level of ungratefulness is…"

"I know, mother…you're right. I love you and I promise…I promise I won't let you down this time."

Emma silently begged for Cora to tell Regina she loved her, too. But the words didn't come. The Queen of Hearts merely nodded in her daughter's direction.

"Go on, then," she said, pointing towards the exit. "If what you say is true, be on your way."

Regina stood frozen—not wanting to say good-bye; Emma had to physically grab her by the arm and pull her out of the room.

* * *

"Are you okay?" Emma asked, once they were back outside.

Regina refused to answer the question, choosing instead to remain silent and ignore it entirely.

"That couldn't have been easy," Emma continued, slightly concerned with the glossy film that had formed in her companion's eyes.

"It was a walk in the park in comparison to murdering her with my own two hands."

"You didn't murder her...you were trying to save her...you didn't know."

"You really _don't_ want to have this conversation with me right now."

"Was Cora always like that with you?" Emma questioned, fully aware she might be crossing the line. "So, um, physical?"

"Yes," Regina admitted, surprising them both with her honesty. "But she just…she just wanted what was best for me. She only did what she thought would help me in the long-run."

"Right," Emma said—she had seen this a million times before in the foster system: abused kids who made excuses for their biological parents, wanting to believe they could change. Normally she would push the subject; she would try to show Regina that she deserved better. But Emma decided it was best not to push her luck.

"I just wish she let me hug her… that will be the last hug I ever give her."

"She doesn't have her heart. She couldn't possibly understand."

"Do you know what the worst part of Snow's downright cruelty was? My mother ripped out her heart _before_ she had the chance to taint it—if Snow had just let me put her heart back in…she probably would've been _good._ She would've loved me and she wouldn't have even wanted to be the Dark One anymore. She could've met her grandson."

"Fuck," Emma muttered. "Are you serious?"

"Would I kid about my mother's death, Ms. Swan?"

"Regina …I don't know….I don't even know what to say. I'm sorry."

"That was probably the last time I'll see her alive."

"I'm sorry," the blonde repeated.

"Let's just…focus on why we're here, alright? I apologize that I was unable to control my emotions."

"Seriously? You don't have to apologize."

"In any event, we don't need any distractions."

"Okay," Emma nodded in agreement, believing it best to drop the subject at Regina's cue. "Do you have any idea where you and Daniel would've run away to?"

"Yes—his home village. It's very small and relatively poor. My mother didn't know where he was from…so, it was safe."

"You're sure about this?"

"Daniel and I talked about running away hundreds of times…I'm absolutely positive."

"Okay…can you purple-smoke us there?"

"I'm afraid I cannot."

"Why?"

"As you should know by now, I need to visualize where I'm going. And I never had the chance to go there. I merely know the direction in which we have to walk."

"We have to walk? What the hell? We don't have time to spare—Henry's life is on the line here."

"And whose fault is _that_?"

"I know it's my fucking fault—all the more reason for me to want to save him _faster, _okay?"

"I'm doing the best I can in the given the circumstances. We can, and will, walk all through the night—but walking is the best option we have."

"Fine," Emma sighed. "Let's just go."

* * *

"You don't look very well," Regina observed. The two women trudged through the forest in the dark, neither one admitting how desperate they were to stop and rest after hours on their journey.

"I feel sick to my stomach," Emma said. "Actually, I can't even feel my stomach anymore."

"When was the last time you ate?"

"I'm not sure," Emma shrugged. "But I'm not eating here—I'm not touching whatever disgusting shit we would have to eat in middle of this goddamn forest. I had enough of that the first time I was here."

"You look like your about to pass out, and I have no intentions of dragging your body through the woods."

"If I pass out just leave me and go save Henry, okay?"

"You're sort of my ride-home, dear."

"Right," Emma remarked, "so glad I'm good for something."

"I can 'purple-smoke' any meal you so desire, you know."

"Really?" Emma's face lit up at the prospect of food.

"What do you want, Ms. Swan? I'll give you anything to get you to shut up."

"Peanut-butter and jelly sandwich."

"How old are you?"

"Can you not judge me right now? You said _anything_ and that's what I feel like. We don't exactly have time to stop for a gourmet meal."

Regina momentarily ceased walking; with a wave of her hand, she made the sandwich appear. But when Emma took a step closer to retrieve it, Regina bit into the snack herself.

"That's so mean," the blonde whined. "Like, was that necessary? Do you enjoy being cruel to me?"

"Do I really need to even answer that?"

"Whatever. I'll just magic _myself_ a sandwich, then."

"Wait, no," Regina gasped, quickly grabbing Emma's hands to stop her. "Please don't do that."

"What? Why are you against me eating? It was your idea!"

"You shouldn't use magic—we're in a time that exists before you were born."

"So, what?"

"If you have magic as the result of true love, you won't have it here because your mother is only a child who hasn't fallen in love yet. And if you_ do_ still have it, it will be very weak. You can't use it on food…you need to save all of your magic for trying to get us home."

"And if I_ don't_ have magic here, how exactly will we get home?"

"I haven't figured that just out yet."

"Jesus Christ, were you ever planning on telling me we might be stuck here for all eternity?"

"Would it really have changed anything? We have no choice but to take this chance."

Emma accepted that Regina was right—there was no amount of risk she wouldn't have been willing to take to save Henry.

"Still would've been nice to get a heads up—you only told me because of my peanut-butter craving."

"Here," Regina said, handing over the sandwich, "take it—I'm not hungry."

Regina quickened her pace, making sure she was steps ahead of Emma.

"Regina, come on," Emma begged, catching up to her, "Can you please not starve yourself just to spite me? We _both_ need to be as strong as possible if we're going to pull this off. And we need to stop fighting. I get that you hate me and that I'm the last person you want to be stuck in the middle of the woods with but we're going to have to do this together."

"Why did you do it?" Regina barked. Emma understood immediately that they were no longer talking about sandwiches. "How could you do something that is so completely illogical? It baffles my mind that the 'savior' could be so damn stupid."

"It didn't seem illogical at the time," Emma defended, "or I obviously wouldn't have done it."

"How could it seem logical?"

"I thought I could help everyone…I thought I could help _you._"

"Why on earth would you be so worried about helping me?"

"Do you think I don't understand that I screwed up with the whole Archie thing? I wanted to apologize but then Gold was knocking on my door threatening my family if I didn't come with him to New York. Do you know how guilty I feel? I was trying to make everything better and I somehow fucked things up ten times more."

"Funny," Regina smirked, "because that's _exactly _how you and your family made me feel. I was trying to fix everything, too. Do you think I enjoyed having you know I was in therapy? But it was all for Henry. Somehow…no matter how hard I tried, I ended up the bad guy yet again."

"Because you keep walking right back into that role!"

"You hypocritical morons give me no other choice."

"You want to know why I did it, Regina? Because this little teen-age girl was sitting in the Sheriff's Station hysterically crying and I just thought that if I could make you stop feeling so much pain that everyone could get their happy ending, including you. Do you think I haven't noticed how much you've been hurting lately?"

"You could've come speak to _me_ instead of deciding to try to re-write history."

"As if you would've even let me in your front door. And, besides, what am I supposed to say to you when you're actively trying to bring down the only family I've ever known?"

"Let's be perfectly clear about something: I don't get a happy ending. I've learned that's not how this works. But the _very_ least I can do is make sure my son survives this mess of a life I created."

"Everybody gets a happy ending."

"Your naivety is showing, princess."

Emma inhaled deeply, calming herself down; the nighttime air was so frigid that her breath was visible. "I just…I feel so worthless. I can't believe I didn't realize what this would do to Henry. I can't believe I didn't think of him in that moment."

Emma looked to Regina and noticed she seemed thrown by the confession.

"When I first adopted Henry," Regina said, quietly, "it took me a while to realize that I had to look at every decision I made differently. Every move I made I had to think 'how will this affect my child?' That doesn't develop overnight. That's why he still needs me….you're an amateur at best."

"I know that I am. Bu he needs you for a lot of reasons—which is exactly why I got so angry when I thought you killed Archie."

"I've lost everyone I've ever loved," the brunette gulped. "I can't lose Henry. That will be it for me. I won't…I won't be able to wake up in the morning and keep living if he's gone, too."

"I feel the same way; I don't know how I learned to love him so quickly…but I did. And the scariest thing is that if we don't fix this, we won't even know he's gone, will we? Because we won't even know he ever existed."

"I suppose we won't."

"Let's not think about it like that—it won't happen that way. If Henry were here, he'd be sure we could do it."

"You're right, he certainly would be."

"How about we split this?" Emma asked, before she tore the sandwich in two and handed one half to Regina.

"Okay," Regina agreed, "thank you."

Both sleep-deprived women put one foot in front of the other and kept on walking through the night.


End file.
